(no subject)

[nonethefewer]

What do you do if/when you get insomnia?

Comments

[pattytoo.livejournal.com]

Take melatonin...
...drink Chamomile tea...
...take Benadryl...
...meditate...
...take valerian root

Good luck!
Patty

[harlequinaide.livejournal.com]

Post responses in your journal. Stay awake. Lie in bed and will myself to sleep. Take Chinese herbs that knock me out. Watch TV. If nothing else works, I read a few pages of "The Wheel of Time." If that doesn't put me to sleep, at least I know the prose will beat my brain into a state of submission akin to hibernation.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

Play my Kingdom of Loathing turns 12 hours earlier than I would have otherwise. Answer overdue e-mails.

Fortunately for me, I'm only insomnic on days ending in Y.

[trista.livejournal.com]

The first night I go into the living room and read until I think I can fall asleep and then go back to bed. The night after that, and every night for the rest of the week, I take Benadryl or some other drowsy-making OTC medication at around 7:00 so I'll be sleepy by 10:00, and as soon as I start to feel drowsy I go with it and go to bed. I try to get up at the same time every morning, avoid caffeine after about 2:00 in the afternoon, not eat anything particularly likely to give me digestive adventures, and avoid anything likely to make me worry.

You have my sympathy.

[murnkay.livejournal.com]

Get annoyed. Play with the cat. Be tired.

My methods aren't really effective at stopping it, I dfind.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Lie on my back as flat as possible with my eyes closed. Starting at my toes, systematically clench and unclench every single muscle in my body, raising up the appropriate limb and dropping it when I let go of the muscle. This usually relaxes me enough that I doze off sometime during the process, or not long after. If it doesn't work, I get up and out of bed and do something else for an hour or two.

[heinleinfan.livejournal.com]

Cry. Knash my teeth. Bemoan the state of my sleeplessness. Shuffle through work the next day.

Oh, you were looking for possible *fixes*. Right.

If I don't sleep I have found the *only* thing that works is to make myself, at all costs, *do* something the next afternoon instead of taking a nap, or I get into a cycle. I try to do as much physical activity as possible in order to stay awake at least until 9 oclock or so, and then I can break the cycle. Not like running a marathon or something, but cleaning or cooking or policing the litter boxes (heh, typo'd that as "boxers"..."STOP! Please unhand the boxers and step away from the litter!") or just tidying up or futzing in the garden or something.

Usually my depression/mind racing/blegh is what keeps me up, then napping too long the next day makes it worse and not doing anything productive makes my depression/anxiety worse...so doing something the day after a bad night of insomnia usually kills two stones with one bird or something.

[brynndragon.livejournal.com]

Wonder what the hell is going on, since I get insomnia so rarely. But when I do it's not simply "can't sleep", it's "can't sleep and I'm a horrible excuse for a human being who can't get anything right" (I've never heard of anyone else getting insomina-induced depression, but that's how it works for me, so I guess it's good that I get insomnia so infrequently). I generally distract myself with books or my computer, not to fix the lack of sleep but to help deal with the depression by not letting my brain whir on its own.

[the-xtina.livejournal.com]

The insomnia reasoning varies:

- I was stupid with regards to sleeping or ingestible disruptants (caffeine, cats, &c).
- I'm being stupid with regards to being sucked into something and ignoring being sleepy.
- I am stuck in hell, examining every action of mine with a magnifying glass and a fine-toothed comb.  This would be the depression talking
- ??  Profit!

[ethernight.livejournal.com]

I stopped drinking caffeine after $x pm, and now I don't get insomnia anymore. (Where $x = $bedtime - 8 hours or more).

[dr-memory.livejournal.com]

In general? I fail to sleep for a night, and the next day sucks. I'm lucky enough that it's never gone on longer than that.

If I'm particularly intelligent, I'll ransack the medicene cabinet for Benedryl and pop 10-20mg, which is usually although not always sufficient. (Law of diminishing returns applies as always.)

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Benadryl is amazingly effective for helping me sleep.

Failing that, there's always warm milk, occasionally with some alcoholic stuff in it.